Ceawlin: The Man Who Created England

by Rupert Matthews

In this book Rupert Matthews puts forward his ground breaking new theories on the collapse of the post-Roman order in Britain and the formation of England. Drawing on newly analyzed written sources and the growing mass of archaeological finds he presents a very different picture of post-Roman Britain than that usually put forward. In place of the anarchy and mayhem, Rupert suggests that Romanised governmental structures managed to survive the economic collapse of the 5th century and the population collapse of the early sixth century to emerge in new and barbarianism form in the later sixth century. The key figure in this story was Ceawlin, King of Wessex in the 570s. It was he who finally smashed the old order with his ambitious grab for power and who thus opened the way to the creation of the England that we know today with its English culture, English language and English character.

Genres: History, British Literature

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2012

Reviews

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book uses the word "perhaps" and the phrase "may have" more than any book I have ever read. A very great deal of it is conjecture: a theory that fits the facts, but one in which there are not enough facts for certainty. Having said that, it's fascinating conjecture and the author states his case well for Ceawlin's role (however unwitting) in creating Anglo-Saxon England. The author does a very good job of familiarizing the reader with the distant collapse of Roman Britain, the rise of British failed states and their ultimate conquest by Angles and Saxons.

A serious flaw with this book is its need for proof-reading, for which I feel obliged to hold back one star. So many sentence structure errors should not get past a competent copy editor.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ceawlin (Collen to the Welsh) became ruler of much of what is England today as the population was diminishing due to cooling weather that no longer supported the crops that the Roman Empire had come to count on, capped off by wide spread bubonic plague. The Romans left the British to their own devices. Later, resistance to Ceawlin's rule and a takeover by Germanic forces, mostly Angles and Saxons, pagans without literacy, formed what we now know as England. These were the conclusions the author reached, sometimes based on thin but persuasive theories.

Some parts of the narrative were difficult to follow without an annotated map, which was not provided.

All told, nevertheless, a worthwhile examination of a history that is not well known.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the first time I have a grasp of what might have gone on from 410 AD to 600 AD. Speculation, but based on the sources, such as they are, and I'm ready to go along with that, at least until the concluding chapter or so. I am beginning to grasp the sheer amount of history, the multitude of generations. And that is just in our small corner of the world. Still it is my corner and I'm not finished with this period - lots more to learn about the dark earth of the towns so I'll keep an eye on the archaeology.

[Jan]

This was suggested reading from my favorite podcast - The British History Podcast. Historical fiction describing life during the age of the Vikings

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book, really interesting extrapolations from the sources available. Very readable style and a plausible conclusion

[Jim Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, even plausible, alternative history of 6th Century Britain